Ted Stevens on trial. - By Charles Homans - Sla... http://www.slate.

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TED STEVENS ON TRIAL.

Slate on NPR By Charles Homans
Video Posted Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, at 1:47 PM ET
N E W S & POL I T I C S
Disable Flyout How Sarah Palin Could
About the time Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin posed Ace Her Next Interview
for cameras at a firehouse near Ground Zero
in Manhattan Thursday morning, Alaska Sen.
PR I N T
Ted Stevens arrived at his own less voluntary
D I SC U SS
photo op at the federal courthouse in
E- MAI L Washington. BUS I N E S S & T E C H
The Biggest Drawback
RECO MMEND
of the New Google
N E W SL E T T E R S Stevens, a small man who stood a full head Phone
P O D C A ST S shorter than most members of his legal team,
R SS had decided to forgo his trademark Incredible
Hulk necktie, which he wears for important
votes on the Senate floor, in favor of a blue BUS I N E S S & T E C H
A la s k a S e n. T e d Why the House
one flecked with gold—the colors of Alaska's
S t e v e ns Republicans' Bailout
state flag. It was only the first day of Plan Won't Work
Stevens' corruption trial, but the reporters
assigned to cover Alaskan matters in Washington already looked
MO RE tired. It has been an unusual year in the 49th state's politics, to
JURISPRUDENCE say the least.
CO LUMN S

The lead prosecutor, Brenda Morris, tried to be reassuring. "This is T H E M O ST e - maile d | r e ad

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a simple case," she told the jury as the morning's proceedings got
under way, "about a public official who took hundreds of
thousands of dollars, then took away the public's right to know
Spare the Rod
about it." In July, Stevens—the longest-serving Republican in the
Why you shouldn't hi t your ki ds.
Senate—became the first sitting senator in 27 years to be indicted
posted Sep 24, 2008 By Alan E. Kazdin
on federal criminal charges. Prosecutors accused him of accepting
more than $250,000 in unreported gifts and renovations to his
First Palin, Then Campaign Suspension.
home in the Alaskan ski-resort town of Girdwood. Most of this
came courtesy of Veco Corp., a now-defunct Anchorage-based oil
What Now?
Slate predi cts McC ai n's next 10 Hai l Mary
field service company whose CEO has since pleaded guilty to
stunts.
bribery and extortion in a related case back in Alaska.
posted Sep 25, 2008
The Mongolia Obsession
Bones are all that i s left of the Mongoli an
empi re.
posted Sep 22, 2008 By Tim Wu
Stevens' lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, tried unsuccessfully to move
the trial to Anchorage, ostensibly because Stevens needed to be Sarah Palin's Media Training
there to campaign to keep his Senate seat. Immediately following What the governor should do next ti me she's
the indictment, Stevens fell 17 points behind his Democratic i n the hot seat.
opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, although he has since posted Sep 25, 2008 By Christopher Beam

pos t ed Sept . 19, 2008
Mistaken Authority
Congress should say
no to Bush's last-gasp
bid for more executive
power.
Neal Katyal
pos t ed Sept . 17, 2008
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pulled nearly even. Sullivan's efforts failed, so Stevens is facing a
jury with little knowledge of the Last Frontier. Asked earlier in the This Call to the Bullpen Is Eroding My
week what the name of Stevens' state called to mind, one Stomach Lining
potential juror offered, "Alaska is cold." The cruel torture of watchi ng the New York
Mets' reli ef pi tchers.
posted Sep 25, 2008 By Josh Levin
This gave both attorneys the opportunity to more or less invent
the place in question. Girdwood, Morris told the jurors, "is like a
ski town," full of Stevens consiglieres like Veco CEO Bill Allen and
Bob Persons, the owner of the Double Musky Inn in Girdwood, who
helped oversee the now-infamous renovations to the Stevens'
"chalet." "They're old-school," Morris said of Stevens' friends.
"Those he trusts know how to get things done for the senator,
very, very subtly. That's the way he wanted it."
Today's Headlines
When it was his turn, Sullivan tried to recast Girdwood as a kind [audio] McCain Puts Father-Son Junkyard Business
of boreal Mayberry. "We're not talking about Aspen, Colorado, Into Blind Trust
here," he said. "This is a community of dirt roads." The folksiness Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:00:06 -0400
sat oddly with his patrician mien (he has defended Oliver North,
The Debates!! I Want To See Them So Bad!!
Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:05:00 -0400
Ted Stevens on trial. - By Charles Homans - Sla... http://www.slate.com/id/2200929/ 9/26/2008 14:42

among others). But in Sullivan's telling, Persons became "Walking New Debate Rules Allow For One 15-Second
F EATU R ED
Bob," a neighborhood character known more for walking five miles Strangulation
AD VERTI SER LI N K S
a day around town, regardless of the weather, than for his Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:33:28 -0400
tangential association with the biggest Alaskan political scandal in
» More from the Onion
a generation.

Prosecutor Morris is right—this is a simple case. But it's also an

odd one. The amount of money in question, which works out to
around $36,000 a year for the seven years Stevens failed to report OPINIONS
it, is almost endearingly small compared with what other
My Country for a Photo
congressmen have pulled in. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a former Dionne | Bailout negotiations were
representative from California, made off with $2.4 million before going well -- until McCain dropped in.
he got busted. Tom DeLay, former congressman from Texas, Robinson: The Drama King and
allegedly picked up $1 million a pop from his benefactors. It IToles: Crisis in Judgement
would be a strange thing for Stevens, who has been in office since
Telnaes: Palin Helps to Run Out the Clock
before the moon landing, to be brought down by the cigarette- Krauthammer: The Foolishness of the Crowd
burned used furniture Allen left at his house. Mark Sanford: A Bailout for Every Bad
Decision?
Milbank: Stevens Throws His Wife Under a Bus
Especially considering what Stevens did legally. His earmarks,
self-perpetuating Alaska-specific federal programs and no-bid PLUS » Marcus: Dining With Mahmoud
contracts for Alaska Native corporations, collectively funnel $8
billion a year back to Alaska, the most heavily subsidized state in
the country for most of the last quarter-century. Even if Stevens
did fail to report the sled dog he and Allen purchased together at
a charity auction, it seems a little beside the point. Today's Headlines

Dan Radcliffe, Nude on Broadway—If You Care.

In fact, as Thursday's arguments wore on, it was hard not to think Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:35:44 GMT
that Sullivan's efforts to portray his client as a well-meaning but
busy guy, duped by the dastardly oilman Allen, made a much less Behind China's Tainted Milk Crisis
convincing case for his innocence than Stevens' own record of Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:23:37 GMT

heeling his constituents. If he had pursued his corruption with Should Drug Companies Reveal Payments to
any seriousness, couldn't the man who snagged $100 million for Doctors?
the University of Alaska to study the energy-generating potential Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:10:38 GMT
of the aurora borealis have done better for himself than a
Brookstone massage chair and a nice barbecue grill? » More from Newsweek

But it is a legal cliché that the big fish often get caught on the
small stuff. So, Sullivan spent most of the morning sloughing the
responsibility for the home remodel onto someone the prosecution Today's Headlines
barely mentioned: Stevens' wife, Catherine, who sat in the second
Debate Prep
row of the courtroom. "It is with a little discomfort that I warn you
Wed, 24 September 2008 18:05:36 GMT
we have to look at the relationship between Ted and Catherine,"
Sullivan said before diving in. Stevens had "no instinct for A French Kiss for Spike
design," and it was Catherine who handled the couple's finances, Wed, 24 September 2008 17:41:42 GMT
fielding the bills or lack thereof for the home improvements.
A Whole New Ball Game
Thu, 25 September 2008 21:43:39 GMT
"When it comes to things in and around the teepee, the wife
» More from The Root
controls," Sullivan said. "That might seem a little old-fashioned,
but Ted Stevens is old-fashioned." He'd better hope the jurors
are, too.

Sullivan also argued that the second round of work Veco did on
the chalet, including the installation of a $20,000 roof heating
system, was necessary only because the initial work they did was
shoddy in places—meaning that Stevens shouldn't have had to
pay for it, anyway.

Maybe, but that's the thing about home remodels: They always
end up costing you more than you thought they would.

BAC K TO TO P

PR I N T D I SC U SS E-MAI L

C h a r le s H o m a n s is a n e dit o r a t t h e W ash in gt o n M o n t h l y .

P hotogr aph of T ed S t evens by Jonathan E r ns t / Get t y Im ages .

JO I N THE FRAY : OUR READER DISCUSSION FORUM

W ha t d i d y o u t hi nk o f t hi s a r t i c le ?
P O S T A M E S S AG E | R E AD M E S S AG E S
Ted Stevens on trial. - By Charles Homans - Sla... http://www.slate.com/id/2200929/ 9/26/2008 14:42

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